The date is circled on the calendar. You’ve been prepping on your own for weeks—maybe months. There is nothing else you can do to get ready for the SAT or ACT.

Or is there?

Thanks to a new alliance between UNLV Continuing Education and Catalyst, a SAT/ACT test prep company, Las Vegas now has an affordable weekend test prep boot camp strategically scheduled the week before you take your college entrance exams.

Participants in the Antarctic cruise find the beginning of each day is like opening a new gift from Mother Nature. So far their days have run the gamut -- from a penguin breeding colony to rafts of penguins; from seeing dramatic icebergs to riding the waves created by rocking icebergs, from yoga on the beach to camping in the snow atop an island.

More than 30 Continuing Education students and trip leaders Peg Rees and Sharon Schafer are on an 11-day active adventure to Antarctica. You will be able to join them as they are introduced to the Antarctic’s unique wildlife and landscapes, walk on ice, snow, and rock to visit penguins, and explore on-land cultural sites.

Summer Term 2013 is just around the corner. Three sessions will be offered with the dates as follow: Summer Term 1: May 20 to June 7, Summer Term 2: June 10 to July 12, and Summer Term 3: July 15 to August 16. More information regarding the schedule, registration, and fees can be found at the Summer Term website, summerterm.unlv.edu.

UNLV Continuing Education has joined with Catalyst to offer SAT and ACT boot camps. The momentum-boosting weekend seminars will arm students with go-to strategies for every question they will face on the day of the test. Students will learn to spot hidden clues that instantly reveal the main idea in long reading passages. They will also find out how to avoid the four sneakiest ways SAT and ACT grammar questions try to trick students. In addition, students will be able to compose a perfect-score essay, no matter what question the SAT asks.

The Public Lands Institute is partnering with the National Park Service on a new initiative, the International Protected Area Exchange (IPAX). Recognizing the value in protecting our global natural areas, IPAX will utilize UNLV’s research and education expertise to address the need for additional educational resources to benefit protected areas around the world. The initiative began with a visioning session on Nov. 14 at UNLV.